I could not get in the water at the Clinch all week after work with the current flow schedule until Saturday. To say it was crowded is an understatement, finally as the water started to rise it turned on for me, not sure if a combo of water rising or everyone just chased them my way! Here are a couple of shots, I hit four of these and four bows all within an hour and a half, with two others breaking off, as usual it's always the biggest that breaks off, I just know it was big, brown and P.O.'ed. I hate taking pictures while I am fishing, due to possible loss of phone but mainly stressing the fish in this heat, the one in the net was the largest of those four except for the lost one!

Sunday was slower with one of these and 3 smaller bows, but compared with some days on the Clinch I gladly accept!

__________________"It starts with a raindrop, don't let it end with a teardrop!"

Had another chance to float the Clinch on Sunday. Had a nice day on the water with some pretty decent fish, not a whole lot, but still fun. I was suprised at the amount of sulphurs still around. Lots of midges on parts of the river. I had a friend with me that is new to fly fishing for trout and he was amazed at how hard those stocked fish fought.

Bigsur, it has been that way for me the last two weeks. The last hour from 10-11 at Miller's always seems to be when the big boys come out to play. This week there was little to no sulphur hatch until about 10:30.

I guess we are the reason Miller's was so busy on Saturday because like TylerG10 I was at Miller's on Saturday as well. I had my most consistent luck on a size 20 brown Zebra midge this time around. I think I'm finally starting to get the hang of using the strike indicator. In fact I caught one of the biggest Brookies I've ever caught on Saturday. I put a tape on him and he was 12" long. I'm sure there are bigger ones in the Clinch but most of the one's I catch are closer to the 9" range. Either way....I'll take what I can get. It’s better to catch average fish than no fish at allJ

I have fished Miller's the past two Saturdays. Both days have been really crowded. I always try to get there really early and beat most people to the water. That really doesn't seem to matter to most because both days I have had people come within 30 yards of me and start fishing.

However, I have caught quite a few fish both days but like I said earlier, the big bite seems to turn on right around 10:00 and right before the water gets there. This past Saturday was much slower and the fish seemed to be much more picky.

Here is a picture from a few weeks ago on The Clinch. Before anyone says anything about keeping a fish out of water for long periods of time, I had to set my rod down to pick this fish up with both hands and managed to set the fish down, take the fly out, and snap this picture in less than 15 seconds. This was my "okay, last cast" because the water was already coming up and I was worried I waited too long as it was. Being my first year fishing the Clinch, and totaling bombing out for about the first month or so, this is my biggest so far and may be the biggest on a fly rod for me.

ChemE, when I hooked up to that fish and it jumped I knew it was going to take me a few minutes to get it in and the last thing on my mind was the water coming up ... until a guy yelled from about 50 yards up river and told me the water was coming up and don't stay out too much longer. But yes, awesome feeling knowing where I was a few months ago when I talked to Bigsur and I was telling him I couldn't buy a bite!

ChemE, when I hooked up to that fish and it jumped I knew it was going to take me a few minutes to get it in and the last thing on my mind was the water coming up ... until a guy yelled from about 50 yards up river and told me the water was coming up and don't stay out too much longer. But yes, awesome feeling knowing where I was a few months ago when I talked to Bigsur and I was telling him I couldn't buy a bite!

Dude that is one fine bow, and yes I remember those conversations this spring on the river. I also know you have spent the time to get where you are today on the Clinch. One of my favorite quotes I have read is: "Fly fishing is a school you never gradute from!", and the Clinch is the perfect example of that.

__________________"It starts with a raindrop, don't let it end with a teardrop!"